Hulk angry! And director Louis Leterrier might not be all that happy either, saying his planned sequel to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk had such potential before it got smashed to bits.
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Leterrier confirmed that “there was like a whole sequel” set for The Incredible Hulk. “There was like Grey Hulk, Red Hulks – there was a lot of good stuff that we were planning…Hulk is a complex character within the Marvel Universe…You want the primeval Hulk…the rage Hulk. And then when you go Grey Hulk and Smart Hulk you lose that a little bit and you get a little bit more kiddish with it.”
Objectively, with such animosity behind the scenes – Edward Norton went after Marvel over the edit of the movie, with Kevin Feige later declaring they would boot Norton for “an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit” – an Incredible Hulk sequel with all of the pieces in place never really seemed all that likely.
Fifteen years on, Leterrier doesn’t seem so confident that his Incredible Hulk sequel could ever work considering the places Marvel has taken it. “But that was the fun of where I was in my movie, with the access to consciousness and all that stuff. That was really fun. And that’s what I was aiming to do. But take my time with it. Because there’s so many characters they want it all fast [laughs]. I like She-Hulk, but then you know, yoga between Hulk and… I was like ‘Okay! yeah, we’re very far from my Hulk.’” Interestingly, She-Hulk tossed around the idea of having Edward Norton reprise the character.
As one of the worst-reviewed entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the only one to not have the lead actor return for the subsequent entries – Norton was of course replaced by Mark Ruffalo – The Incredible Hulk remains an oddball title in the MCU, one you sort of just have to stomach when you binge the franchise.
Would you have wanted a direct sequel to The Incredible Hulk? How would it have played a role in the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Give us your take in the comments section below!